The Canadian Stage Company Marks Black History Month with INTIMATE APPAREL

Heralding Black History Month, The Canadian Stage Company presents the revival of Obsidian Theatre's acclaimed production of Intimate Apparel by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage. A turn-of-the-century love story set in New York, the production reunites director Philip Akin with the original Canadian cast: Dora Award-winning actor Raven Dauda (Miss Julie: Freedom Summer, Doubt, a parable) as Esther, Kevin Hanchard (Miss Julie: Freedom Summer, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Angels in America) as George, Alex Poch-Goldin (Angels in America) as Mr. Marks, Lisa Berry (The Crucible, Shaw Festival and The Odyssey, Stratford Shakespeare Festival) as Mayme, Marium Carvell (Divided We Stand) as Mrs. Dickson and Carly Street (The Lord of the Rings, Dora nomination) as Mrs. Van Buren. Intimate Apparel runs February 8 to March 6, 2010 (media night: February 11) at the Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front Street East, and Tickets are available in person, by phone 416.368.3110, or online at canadianstage.com.

Intimate Apparel made The Wall Street Journal's list of America's top 10 most produced plays of the decade. It was originally co-commissioned and produced by South Coast Repertory (California) and CENTERSTAGE (Baltimore) and had its world premiere in early 2003. The play made its Off-Broadway debut at Roundabout Theatre Company in April 2004 where it received numerous awards, including the 2004 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play, the Outer Critics Circle Best Play Award, the John Gassner Award and the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg 2004 New Play Award among others. Obsidian Theatre Company brought the play to Toronto's Berkeley Street Theatre for its Canadian premiere in January 2008 where it garnered Dora nominations for Production and Direction and won a Dora Award for Costume Design.

Set in 1905 in New York's Lower East Side amid the ragtime music of Scott Joplin, Intimate Apparel is as rich and beautiful as finely-crafted lingerie. It is a deeply moving portrait of Esther, a gifted African-American seamstress who has gained financial independence by sewing elegant undergarments for Fifth Avenue boudoirs and Tenderloin bordellos. At 35, she dreams of a better life and finding love. She puts it all on the line when she falls for George, a charming Caribbean islander working halfway around the world, through a series of love letters.

"Though Lynn Nottage had already made her mark in the States, she was relatively unknown in Canada when the play made its acclaimed Canadian debut. Yet Philip Akin, Artistic Director of Obsidian Theatre, knew upon first reading that this play was a perfect fit for his company, which plays a prominent role in Canada's theatrical mosaic by showcasing the work of both emerging and established Black artists," states The Canadian Stage Company's Artistic & General Director Matthew Jocelyn. "But this is not a ‘Black play' or a ‘Jewish play' or a ‘Feminist play', though it has elements of all of those. It is a play about people, who like all of us, are searching for love and happiness and must take risks and weather hardships on their road to fulfillment. We are thrilled to be reuniting the cast and crew of this lovely, moving piece of storytelling and to be inviting a whole new audience to discover the work of these remarkable artists."

Artist Bios

Lynn Nottage is a Pulitzer Prize-winning African-American playwright whose plays have been produced internationally. She is the author of Intimate Apparel, which received the 2004 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play, the Outer Critics Circle Best Play Award, the John Gassner Award, and the American Theatre Critics/Steinberg 2004 New Play Award. She won the Pulitzer in 2009 for Ruined, which also garnered the Obie and Drama Desk Awards for Best New Play. Fabulation or, the Re-Education of Undine garnered Nottage an Obie Award in 2005 and recently enjoyed a highly acclaimed run at the Tricycle Theatre in London. Her other plays include: Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Mud, River, Stone; and Las Meninas. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious 2004 PEN/Laura Pels Award for literary excellence and the MacArthur "Genius" Award, as well as fellowships from Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists and the New York Foundation for the Arts, where she is a member of the Artists Advisory Board. Nottage is an alumna of New Dramatists, Brown University and the Yale School of Drama, where she is currently a visiting lecturer.

Director Philip Akin is an accomplished actor/director/producer. He is the Artistic Director (as of 2006) and a founding member of Obsidian Theatre Company (founded in 2000), one of Canada's leading culturally diverse theatre companies dedicated to the exploration, development, and production of the Black voice. Akin's recent directorial credits include: Topdog Underdog by Susan-Lori Parks (Shaw Festival Reading Series, 2009); Toronto the Good by Andrew Moodie (Factory Theatre, 2009); and Black Medea by Wesley Enroch, Born Ready by Joseph Jomo Pierre, Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage and the International Playwrights Forum (for the Obsidian Theatre Company, 2008). He has had many featured roles in major American films such as The Sum of All Fears, S.W.A.T., and Get Rich or Die Tryin'. He is also known for his voice work, including voicing the character of Bishop for the X-Men animated series and Tripp Hansen in Monster Force.

Raven Dauda plays Esther, a 35 year-old seamstress yearning for love, a role which earned her critical acclaim. Dauda starred in The Canadian Stage Company productions of Miss Julie: Freedom Summer (for which she is a Dora Award recipient), Wild Dogs (in association with Nightwood Theatre) and Doubt, a parable (for which she received a Dora nomination). Other theatre credits include: Twilight Café (Theatre Archipelago); ‘da Kink in my Hair (Mirvish Productions) and 3 Parts Harmony (b Current). Film and television credits include: The Bridge (CTV/CBS); Crash & Burn (Showcase); ‘da Kink in my Hair (Global); Across The River To Motor City (CHUM); 11th Hour (CTV); Soul Food (Showtime) and Knights Of The South Bronx (Fox/A&E).

Kevin Hanchard plays George, a charming Caribbean islander who woos Esther through a series of love letters. Hanchard has starred in a myriad of Canadian Stage's productions including Miss Julie: Freedom Summer which earned him a Dora nomination; A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Comedy of Errors; Blue/Orange and Angels in America, Parts I & II. Recent theatre credits include Macbeth, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Stratford). Other theatre credits include: Coma Unplugged (Great Canadian Theatre Company); Fuente Ovejuna, Palmer Park (Stratford Shakespeare Festival); Intimate Apparel, Consecrated Ground (Obsidian Theatre Company); The Real McCoy, Apple (Factory Theatre); and The Member of the Wedding, Riot, The Gospel at Colonus (Neptune Theatre). Film and television credits include The Listener (NBC/CTV); Naturally Sadie (Disney); Missing (Lifetime); Metropia (Omni); Take the Lead (Lions Gate Entertainment); Jasper Texas (Showtime). Upcoming credits include Featuring Loretta (Factory Theatre).

Alex Poch-Goldin plays Mr. Marks, an Orthodox Jewish textile merchant. An award-winning actor, playwright and librettist, he was recently nominated for the 2008 Siminovitch Award. Poch-Goldin starred in The Canadian Stage Company productions of Angels in America, Comedy of Errors, The Tempest, Six Degrees of Separation, Wit, Anybody and Nobody and was a Canadian Stage OAC Playwright-in-Residence. Other credits include: Scorched (Tarragon Theatre/national tour), his opera The Shadow was produced by Tapestry New Opera, and his play The Right Road to Pontypool was produced by 4th Line Theatre and will enjoy a remount this summer. Film and television credits include The Untitled Work of Paul Sheppard, Traitor, Flashpoint, Murdoch Mysteries, Living in Your Car and Wonderland.

Lisa Berry makes her Canadian Stage debut as Mayme, a jazz singer who works as a prostitute. Theatre credits include: Doubt, a parable (The Neptune Theatre/The Globe Theatre); The Crucible (Shaw Festival); The Odyssey (Stratford Shakespeare Festival); Les Liasons Dangereuses (Annex Theatre); Anne of Green Gables (Bathurst Street Theatre); and the European Tour of Fame the Musical (UTC). Film and television credits include: Heartland (CBC); Degrassi: The Next Generation (CTV); ‘da Kink in my Hair (Global); Regenesis (TMN); Gospel of Deceit (Lifetime); and appearances on the finale of Canadian Idol (CTV) and the 2008 Gemini Awards (E!). Upcoming, Berry will be playing Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at the St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival.

Marium Carvell plays Mrs. Dickson, the kindly landlady, in her Canadian Stage debut. Her theatre credits include Divided We Stand, Fires in the Mirror and various roles and plays in the Afro-Canadian Playwrights' Festivals. Film and television credits include Murdoch Mysteries (City TV), Warehouse 13 (Syfy) and Then Again (MOW).

Carly Street plays Mrs. Van Buren, a Fifth Avenue socialite. Her theatre credits include: The Taming of the Shrew (Canadian Stage); The Lord of the Rings (Mirvish, Dora nomination); Educating Rita (Segal Centre for the Arts); Oliver! (Theatre Aquarius/Drayton Ent.); Real Estate, It's a Wonderful Life (Grand Theatre); Fire (Theatre Calgary); Henry IV Parts 1 &2, Tempest-Tost, My Fair Lady, The Threepenny Opera (Stratford Shakespeare Festival); and The Qualities of Zero (Tarragon). Film and television credits include The Time Traveller's Wife, D'Une Rive a L'Autre, Warehouse 13,Eternal Kiss, DOC, Twice in a Lifetime, Welcome to Mooseport, The Hoop Life, and Wind at My Back.

Joining director Philip Akin, the creative team includes Tamara Marie Kucheran as Set & Costume Designer, Renée Brode as Lighting Designer and Todd Charlton as Sound Designer. Michael Sinclair is Stage Manager and Andrea Schurman is Assistant Stage Manager.

The Canadian Stage Company

Nationally and internationally acclaimed, The Canadian Stage Company is Canada's leading not-for-profit contemporary theatre company. Founded in 1987 with the merger of CentreStage and Toronto Free Theatre, the Company is dedicated to programming international contemporary theatre and to developing and producing landmark Canadian works, which have been awarded some of the country's most prestigious literary and performing arts honours, including the Governor General's, Chalmers and Dora Mavor Moore Awards. The Company presents the richest variety of Canadian and international plays and musicals - from provocative work at the Berkeley Street Theatre to productions with popular appeal at the Bluma Appel Theatre and a summer of Shakespeare at the TD Dream in High Park. Canadian Stage has a long-standing commitment to education and enhancement programs for the public, nurturing theatre professionals, and developing new Canadian plays, while producing thought-provoking theatre and high quality entertainment in Toronto, one of North America's largest theatre centres. For more information, refer to canadianstage.com.

COMMUNITY ACCESSIBILITY SPONSOR: Sun Life Financial
OFFICIAL HOTEL OF THE Canadian Stage Company: Novotel Hotel

INTIMATE APPAREL
DATES:
February 8 - 10 Previews
February 11 Opening Night
March 6 Closing Night

SCHEDULE: Monday-Saturday at 8 p.m.; matinees Wednesday 1:30 p.m. and Saturday 2 p.m.

LOCATION: Canadian Stage - Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front Street E., Toronto

TICKETS: From $20. Available online at canadianstage.com, by phone via Canadian Stage 416.368.3110, or in person at Customer Service Centres: Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street; or Bluma Appel Theatre, 27 Front St. E., Toronto.

RUSH SEATS: Available for any performance at 50% off the regular ticket price. Tickets are subject to availability and must be purchased in person at the box office one hour prior to show time.

PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN: For Monday-night performances only. Subject to availability. Must be purchased in person at the box office beginning at 10 a.m. on the day of performance.

C-STAGE: For individuals under 30 years with valid ID, tickets are $12.50 and not subject to tax or service charges. May be purchased in advance or on day of performance. Subject to availability. Purchase online at c-stage.ca, by phone or in person. For more info, go to c-stage.ca.

GROUPS OF 10+ PEOPLE SAVE: Contact Christina Hotz, Group Sales & Business Development Manager at 416.367.8243 x266 or chotz@canadianstage.com

TALK BACKS: Free. Informal question-and-answer periods provide a chance to meet the artists following a performance in the theatre. After every Tuesday evening and Wednesday matinee show, excluding previews. No registration required.

THEATRE CLUB: Free. Structured like a book club with an opportunity to discuss the play and the Canadian Stage Reads book selection. Saturday, March 6 at 10:30 a.m. at Nicolas Hoare Books, 45 Front St. E. Register at theatreclub@canadianstage.com.

FOR MORE INFO: CANADIANSTAGE.COM

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